Today's Morning Prayer

I’m grateful for today. For the wonderful night’s sleep I had. (No night sweats.) And for waking to bird song. I’m grateful for sunshine, for warmth, for freshly mown grass – especially when it’s cut on the diagonal.

I’m grateful for the fun and excitement the girls and I have had shopping for their room décor. (Note: The Hobby Lobby isn’t open on Sunday. Will I receive blessings from shopping there?) I’m grateful for my sewing skills, for my mother, 4-H leaders and home ec. teachers who taught me well. Bless them.

I’m grateful that I’m a mother. Please help me to be content with the tasks of motherhood. Help me to not wish away the joys of the moment seeking after recognition or praise from others. It seems that every time I’m contemplating writing/speaking/teaching I find that someone else is already filling the niche I hoped to fill. Help me recognize that no one else can fill my motherhood niche. Help me to recognize it as one of life’s most precious blessings.

While I’m on the topic of niches, please bless me with appreciation for other’s talents. Help me overcome my tendency toward envy and, if possible, replace it with gratitude. Help me to recognize and savor the divinity in each individual I meet and observe. I thank thee for my fellow humans. I thank thee that we aren’t all alike and that we don’t all have the same interests, talents, opinions and fashion sense. Help me especially to savor and be thankful for the differences between myself and my teenager and preteen.

Please help me to find joy in the little things – the everyday blessings that I may be overlooking. Kissing my kids before they head off to school. How they all give me kisses before heading to bed – even my fourteen- and twelve-year-olds. Having a son who wants me to watch him hit a shot with his new golf club. A daughter with a big enough bladder that she never has to use the bathroom at school but rushes down the stairs the moment she walk in the door to use the toilet. (Tee-hee.) Chatting with her as she eats her after-school snack. Watching my youngest and her best friend riding their bikes to elementary school. Listening to them giggle. Having everyone gathered around the table for dinner most nights of the week.

Bless me to find enjoyment in making dinner. My calculations show that if I cook six meals a week until my youngest turns 20, I have roughly 3,400 more menus to prepare. Give me strength! And patience.

I’m grateful for my dog. Do you have a dog? I’m grateful that thou hast given them to us as companions and friends. Annie is a bit of a goof-ball, but she’s endearing, energetic, and cheerful. Help me to be more like her, to have her enthusiasm for meeting new people and going new places. I don’t aspire to being able to catch a Frisbee in my mouth, but I’m grateful my dog can. Her athletic abilities and acrobatics make me laugh. I’m grateful for laughter.

Well, I need to be wrapping up. I need to shower and start my day. I’m grateful to live when I do – in a time of running water and flush toilets. But above all, I’m grateful for Thee. For Thy plan of happiness. For thy Son who made it all possible. Help me to remember Him in all that I do. Help me to be a good example as one of His followers.

These things I say, in His name, amen.